Through the eyes of a child

I love coming to Treetops! Marcus helps me feel better about going to school. We play games and I always beat him! I love being there because I feel peaceful and calm

— Leo

Anxiety and worries in children has become increasingly common but needn't be the uphill battle it often feels to be. Anxiety shows itself in various ways including anger and frustration, so its easy for it to go undetected. At our Treetops clinic we work with children in fun ways which engage them, capture their imagination and give them a safe space to explore their feelings. We use various techniques to help children learn about the difficulties they are having and most importantly how to overcome then. Most importantly we encompass the idea that we are all unique and incredible in our own ways, and so help the child identify their own strengths and special qualities and use these to overcome problems and grow.

Chuckles - The Chimp Analogy

The children's side of our practice is called Treetops for two reasons - because we encourage all children to reach for their dreams and have fun swinging from the treetops, and because a big part of our therapy uses the analogy of a chimp to help a child understand the emotional side of their thinking. When we are frightened, angry or upset our chimp jumps out his box and runs round our heads causing mayhem and when hes calmed down he gets back in but we can feel sad. Chuckles is our therapy chimp, and all children are given a mini chuckles that they are encouraged to name and can decorate and make a home for him to live in. This helps a child engage and understand how their mind works and then we can work on dealing with the difficulties.

Engaging, Imaginative, Fun...

At Treetops we like to make therapy fun and engaging for the child. We strive for their experience with us to be enjoyable and something they look forward to. Our children's room is purposely designed to capture the imagination with its artificial grass, trees, beach area, London fish tank, bubble tubes and bean bags. We have endless supplies of board games, arts and crafts, sensory activities and Lego which we use in creative ways to explore each child's feelings and help them consider ways of managing them and moving forward. We have sound systems so the child can create the environment they would like - and programmes with sound effects where we can take a journey created by the child. Our young Sammy has flown us round the world, eaten in China, lost a train ticket in Paris and watched Kangaroos in Australia!